Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-07-28

ne sun Shines Oniy when she Is IN my pres
ence. | find that must work more secretly.
! Ny great discovery is suspected l caught a
/ Corean potter hanging around my house last
week. He asked many questions, but was
sent away without learning anything.
must work more carefully, though. l must
enclose my room more tightly and proceed
with more caution. lAnother break here oc-
curs.-B. NJ
Yesterday I discovered man hidden under
some clothes in one corner of the room while
was at work. drove him away with blows.
The world must not know of my discovery.
/ have given life Of study to it, and shall de-
fend the secret with my life
II any one comes in tomorrow TO interrupt
me / shall kill him. viii keep my knife by
my side while l work. No one shall know what
my great discovery is. (This part Of the his
tory was hurriedly written and evidently
hastily composed. At times my friend hest
tated in his translation and certain words
were almost illegible-B NJ
To-day finish the great work. j am now
writing the last words of this history, which
will make the name OF Tikipoto famous for
ever, and anyone who comes within these
walls Will die
I thought l heard footstep, but I was
mistaken. Now l will expose the plate to
the air. On its figured face l will paint with
my wonderful discovery the interior of this
room. My first work win immortalize the
room where | was born. / have covered it
with my paint and now
Thus abruptly ended this remarkable &C.
count. There was not another word Of COM
ment. We allowed the plate TO remain on
the furnace until it was as hot as fire could
make it, but single additional letter did not
appear. He was evidently Interrupted for
the last time, never TO continue his strange
story.
"Wen," observed Butler, ''this is the most
remarkable thing ever read"
'Do you believe itsn | asked.
~ don't know what TO say" he replied
thoughtfully. THE fact that this paint he
has used was not visible until it had been
heated seems to give show of reason to the
tale. 1t would not be at all impossible for this
chemist, for that he certainly was, to have
stumbled on a now unknown method of
photography on porcelain by means the
present scientists know nothing of whatever
1t is easily to be seen, however, whether I am
right or not.'
'How sosn asked
ut is evident continued Butler, paying no
apparent heed to my inquiry, that this
japanese potter must have been interrupted
by some accident in the completion of his
task. He had carefully prepared the plate,
the appearance of the letters on the back of it,
under this great heat, shows that beyond
doubt. All it lacked was the treatment after
the firing, which would make the characters
permanently visible. Still the progress he
made shows the possession of great and
wonderful secret. Now what is to prevent
our turning the plate over on the furnace and
seeing what picture is there imprinted Pos
sibly we learn what it was that interrupted
his work so rudely. That is, provided there
be any picture at all. The chances are that
under these circumstances the picture will
disappear the moment the plate cools, but
perhaps with that for a clew we may be able
to discover this secret ourselves"
"What shall dor inquired breathlessly.
Here, take this pair of tongs and carefully
turn the plate over while | observe closely
the other side of it."
l took the tongs in my trembling hands and
with infinite care grasped the rim of the plate
between the nippers Slowly l lifted the
plate from the iron frame work of the fur
length l had it extended in midair, several
feet from the furnace at level with my face.
"For the sake of heavenr exclaimed But
Ter. his face white with emotion just look
at that"
Slowly brought the plate within range of
my eyeglasses. A moment later / saw the
most remarkable sight of my llfe-a sight 50
that my heart almost stopped
beating as l looked upon it. There was a
picture there, in truth, and it did explain the
cause of his interruption. The gaudy surface
Of the plate was suffused by a faint pink tint,
under which the strange and fanciful decora-
tons | had observed when l first saw the
article were family visible, as though through
a veil of gauze. Upon this WAS depicted as
strange a scene as mortal man ever saw. II
was of a small room, rudely furnished. In
one corner stood forge and along one wall
extended rough bench
In the center of the picture stood a work
man, clad in the rough garments Of the
laboratory. In one hand he held the handle /
Of knife. The blade was buried to the hi!t /
in the bosom of his disturber. However ter
ribe this was the expression on his face WAS |
a thousand times more so. 1t was horrible in |
its terror and disnlay. Remorse was visible |
in every line. Its eyes were rolling in |
frenzied horror, and it was CHASTITY pale even
in the picture. | then turned the other side |
Of the plate toward me to view the remaining |
figure 1t was here my self command for |
sock me. This was the sight that caused lie |
to drop the precious plate upon the floor
where it was shattered into a thousand frag- |
nents
The eyes of his victim were turned upon |
him with mute reproach which even the |
CLASSY film Of death could not cloud. The |
arms were thrown lovingly around his neck. |
and the lips were turned appealing toward |
MS face. He had evidently been disturbed at |
MS work. He had felt pair of arms steal |
around his neck and. without waiting for an |
explanation, he had grasped his knife and |
murdered his wife.-Benjamin Nerthrop 10 |
New York Graphic